complete.
Sebastian reached out and touched the wooden veranda. He felt it. He ran his hand along it, feeling the roughness of the wood; its raw, unpolished simplicity.
He could think more clearly now, form coherent thoughts and logic in his mind. Anger at Daniel flared within him. Daniel had done this to him; taken his power and his body. He probably thought he had destroyed him - that he was gone for good. The anger tore at him inside and made him long desperately for more power. Power from human blood. Power to destroy Daniel.
He wrenched open the front door, and stepped forward - but he still could not go inside. Sebastian looked at the house, wondering who else lived here, for he felt more warm bodies within.
‘Hello?’ He called out tentatively.
A large motherly figure bustled through the door.
‘What are you doing out there? Come back in.’
Sebastian smiled, that was what he needed, and he stepped over the threshold.
***
Sarah stood - adrenaline from their lovemaking coursing through her. Daniel watched her as she picked up a blanket and wrapped it around her body. It felt rough in comparison to Daniel’s soft skin.
She went into her kitchen, uncorked a bottle of wine and took two glasses out of the cupboard. She poured the wine, watching as it flowed smoothly in, filling the glasses with the dark red liquid. She took a sip and felt the alcohol hit her brain. She felt intoxicated already, drugged up on Daniel and his blood. The alcohol calmed her.
Sarah stared out of the window, into the darkness, wondering at the turn her life had taken. It was time to focus on reality - she needed to talk to Daniel, to find out more about what had happened, what was going to happen next.
She tucked the blanket under her arm, so it wouldn’t fall down, and picked up the two glasses, carefully carrying them back into the living room. Daniel was standing, already dressed. He stepped forward and took a glass from her.
‘Cheers,’ he said, and clinked her glass, meeting her eyes somberly. ‘I know you want to talk.’
She raised her eyebrows at him, what - could he read her mind when they weren’t touching now, or was it merely her facial expressions?
She sat back on the sofa, taking another sip of wine. It washed away the remaining taste of blood, and she felt it ground her.
‘I do. We haven’t had a chance yet,’ she said playfully - pushing him gently. Well maybe they had had plenty of chances, she thought, but they had been busy with other things. ‘What happened with Sebastian? How did you manage to kill him?’
‘It’s quite complex,’ he said teasing her.
‘I’m sure I can follow…’
‘OK,’ he said, looking amused. ‘After Sebastian took you from me, after I had killed Jo - I went crazy. I didn’t know what to do; I just knew I had to get you back.’
Sarah watched him talk, sensed the angst he had felt, and still couldn’t quite grasp how much he cared for her, couldn’t believe it.
‘I would not normally do what I did. Usually I only take blood from animals - the strength it provides is enough to survive. But I needed to be stronger if I was going to rescue you.’ He broke off and stroked her hair away from her face. It made Sarah feel warm, yet sad.
‘I fed off humans - I didn’t kill anyone,’ he quickly added. ‘But I needed human blood as it’s much more vibrant. It’s full of life and power. I drank from many people, hoping a plan would come to me, and it did - I remembered a witch I knew, who taught me a little magic.’
Sarah opened her eyes wide, astounded at yet more supernatural elements being revealed in her life, ‘Carry on.’
Daniel laughed at her eagerness, ‘The witch, Heather, had made me aware of some websites that contained magical knowledge. I raced home to investigate this idea; to see if there was some way I could tackle Sebastian and get him out of our lives for good - to save you, as I had no idea how else to do it. Sebastian was much stronger than I could ever have made myself. I found a spell that involved taking his power - it was a mummification spell. To do it I needed even more power and had to drink more blood. I went back into town to do this, and I had just had enough when Sebastian